Tamarine is a popular Vietnamese contemporary restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on busy University Avenue. They focus on small plates and serve food family style. Tamerine features light, but flavor-intensive culinary delicacies of Vietnam. We have been here and to their sister restaurant Bong Su several times. We find the food pretty accessible with many items for mainstream palates.

Decor, Vibe - Very nice decor, lots of beautiful art from Vietnam. The place had lots of couples, small parties, people from a variety of age and ethnic groups.

Menu Pictures

Dinner Menu

Cocktail Menu

Sake Menu

Wine Menu

Dessert Menu

Dessert Wines

Tea and Coffee Menu

Picks:

Banh Mi Roti Pan fried wheat bread served with red Panang curry dipping sauce ($6) was very good. We ate it up very quickly.

Salt & Pepper Calamari Crisp calamari wok tossed w/ garlic & spring onions. Served w/ a cilantro emulsion ($12) was very delicious. Light batter, strong cilantro sauce made this a good starter.

Pineapple Sea Bass Whole fried Branzino filet served w/ a blackbean, ginger & roasted pineapple sauce ($27) is a popular dish with fresh fish that is deep fried to perfection. Good sweet and sourc flavors and a beautiful look.

Tamarine Mojito ($11) with Ten Cane Rum, Fresh Mango, Muddled mint & lime was filled with all these different flavors. Moderate strength.

Coconut Tapioca ($8) Coconut Milk Tapioca served with lemongrass-coconut & passion fruit sorbet drizzled with passion fruit caramel & pandan syrup was a lighter refreshing desert. Good combination of flavors.

OK:

Hoisin Lamb Chops Grilled w/ garlic & served w/ baby bok choy & sweet potato fries ($27) The lamb was a little overwhelmed by the hoisin sauce. No gaminess but not much distinct lamb flavor. Good quantities and yummy yam fries.

Sake Mushrooms Shiitake mushrooms wok fired in sake w/ sugar snap peas in a sesame oil & oyster sauce. ($10) has fresh mushrooms and crispy peas. Not too oily.

Coconut, vanilla, roasted coconut flakes Rice ($2.50) was an interesting combination. A good change of pace.

Pans:
None

Service was above average with the waiter and servers floating around constantly. This is one of the best restaurants on University ave and is an easy choice for those looking for fine Vietnamese cuisine. As with most other small plate places, you may order more than anticipated and your bill will reflect that. We have eaten their Tamarine Prawns and Shaking Beef several times in the past, and both are worth ordering.

Their sister restaurant:
Bong Su
311 Third St
San Francisco, CA 94107
415-536-5000

Website - Opentable

Palo Alto Creamery has been serving up classic burger joint food since 1988. They have 2 locations in Palo Alto. We visited the one in the Stanford shopping center.
They specialize in burgers and ice cream fare. They serve breakfast, salads, sandwiches, and dinner entrees after 4pm. They have a $195 burger and Dom Perignon

Decor, Vibe - Classic diner decor with a big dessert display case and counter. Outdoor patio for al fresco burgers. Lots of shoppers, college students, and families were dining.

Menu Pictures

Picks:

Cheeseburger ($9.95) - with grilled onions, lettuce, pickels, tomatoes. They did ask how we wanted it done. Medium rare had a slight pink center and was juicy. A very good burger. Meat quality was fair with no Angus flavor detected. Cheese was pretty average.

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger ($10.75) - with BBQ sauce, bacon, grilled onions, lettuce, pickels, tomatoes. They did ask how we wanted it done. Not a big premium to the Cheeseburger’s price. A nice combination of stuff, but very messy.

Root Beer Float ($5.25) - A huge wad of ice cream on the side of root beer. They do give you more root beer if you ask. Nice creamy Vanilla ice cream.

Real Cherry Coke

OK:
None

Pans:
None

Service was fast and they did check back to see if we needed stuff fairly often. Price are pretty standard for a diner of this sort.
The burgers were solid very good ones, better than most. Only the couple top places can beat this place like Pearls, Custom Burger, Mos, or even The Counter.

Also at:
566 Emerson Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-323-3131

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
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Classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the reason to visit.  Pronounced “paw-CHEESE”, this
place is run by a former cook and manager of Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland.  With that heritage,
it was time to compare it again the reference.

Big hunk of Butter

Decor, Vibe - The Palo Alto location was clean with a new modern feel.  Lots of Stanford students were eating here. This place serves only pizza, salad, and drinks.

Menu pics

Picks:

We tried the Caesar Salad ($5.25 or $9.50) and found it appealing but with lots of dressing.  Nice anchovies on top. Pretty big salad for $5.25.

The 10in Thin Crust ($14.10) took about 20 minutes.  We had half Spinach Pesto, half Hawaiian.
The Spinach Pesto side was the better of the two. Not overpowering in flavor, good crust, kinda soggy in middle. Not exactly healthy but perhaps a little less guilt.  If you like artisan pizza, head to Pizzaria Delfina.

The 10in Thick Crust ($18.35) took about 30 minutes.  We had the ‘Favorite’ with pepperoni, mushrooms and black olives. It was very heavy on the tomatoe quantity and flavor.  The pep could have been more plentiful as I didn’t really taste it.  The crust was fair, being only ok on the sides but not great on the bottom. Leftovers the next day still didn’t hit the spot.

Comparison to BJ’s Favorite deep dish pizza ($19.75 Medium) - BJ’s has a crispy bottom and side edge but softer dough and no cornmeal. They also have far far less real tomatoes. They take about 15 minutes to bake. The BJ’s pizza is good but has a lot less substance to the crust and toppings.
Pans:

The thin Hawaiian had pineapple and meat that could have used more cooking.

The service was good, with our young server pretty attentive.  Several wine and beer options. If I was in need of a deep dish pizza fix and did not want to drive, this is the place to go.  Zachary’s and Little Star was better than this deep dish. You can also order pizza’s half-baked.

Also at:

511 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 558-9991

Restaurant.com $25 Dining Certificate for $10
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